Burning

In addition to playing karaoke tracks for both professional hosts and home users, kJams can also burn CD+G discs which are compatible with most commercial karaoke players, such as those from Pioneer. This feature is probably most useful for home users who want to maintain their entire library on their own computer, and take along their favorite songs when they go out singing, but we suppose that description applies to some pro KJs as well -- if you have the time. :-)

But First!

• you need to read this first!

Hyper Simple Instructions

1. If you haven't already: Turn off AutoPlay
2. Create a playlist with just the songs you want to burn (2 songs max if you are doing a TEST BURN with the unlicensed Tryout), and select that playlist
3. Click the "Burn Button" (looks like a camera iris, on the top right. to see a pic of what the "Burn Button" looks like, click here and scroll down)
4. Stick in a blank CD-R disk (many hardware players can NOT read CD-RW discs)
5. Click "Burn" in the dialog that came up
6. IMPORTANT: To test if it really worked, play the disc in real karaoke hardware (playing in a computer is NOT a fair test).

If Burning fails

• See what to do in case of a Failed Burn.

Detailed Instructions

Click here for detailed burning instructions.

Burning Plugin Details

• Sold Separately from Lite & Pro (not included)
• Many drives are NOT CAPABLE of burning CD+G Discs! You may need to buy a Compatible Drive.
• Comes for free with kJams 2 (included)

• In kJams Lite & Pro only:
  • The burning plugin is SOLD SEPARATELY, for $20. It does NOT come with kJams.
  • The Tryout version of the burning plugin allows you to burn 2 songs per disc, so you can test to see if it works with your CD burner
  • Do NOT purchase the burning plugin until AFTER you have tested a burned disc in actual karaoke hardware (not a computer)
  • Is an in-app purchase, built in to Preferences->Burning
  • After you install, to see if it installed correctly, run kJams and in preferences select the Burning tab.
• Burns the song with your pitch bending (shifting) intact (so when you play it on real hardware, it comes out pitch bent, without instructing the playback device to do anything special). Does NOT burn tempo-shifting or sync-slipping (though we probably should make it do so)
• Is currently in Final (Release Candidate) stage
• WARNING: Due to their inconsistency in some CD/DVD players, Colored or Black CD-R's are NOT recommended, use premium discs.

How to Purchase

For kJams 2, it is built in! Nothing to purchase!
For kJams Lite, and kJams Pro, it is an in-app purchase.

1. run kJams
2. in the Menu Bar, pick kJams->Preferences->Burning
3. click the Purchase button

Burning bin/cue files

If you have a bin/cue file pair, you can drag the BIN file into kJams (or "File->Add To Library…" it) and it will appear as a CD. To burn this image, select the CD and in the file menu the "Burn Playlist…" menu item should now read "Burn bin/cue to disc…", just pick that and burn as normal.

(A .bin file is a raw ripped track (or tracks) from a CD+G disc, which has not been encoded into a compressed audio file; most users won't ever have to deal with one, but we support them anyway.)

Making Pristine Copies

Normally when you burn a disc, the source audio comes from some compressed format. Using typical settings this means an (optionally zipped) MP3 file. Audiophiles will of course wish to create copies of their discs with all the fidelity of the uncompressed audio from the original disc. It's simple to do this with kJams. When you rip a disc, the original, uncompressed audio, direct from the disc, is stored in the cache. (The MP3 file is then created from this uncompressed cache). Typically this cache gets cleared out to make room for more recent songs that you play (which are decompressed from the MP3 files), so what you want to do is burn your copy immediately after you rip your disc. If you want to make a pristine compilation, just re-rip from the original discs each song you want in your compilation, then burn your new disc.

1. Clear your cache (kJams->Preferences->Audio and press the clear button a few times (yes, a *few* times). If you've recently burned a disc the size may not go to zero, this is fine)
2. Set your cache size to be greater than the number of songs you plan to burn. eg: if you think you'll fit 18 songs on the disc, make sure the cache size is at least 19.
3. Re-rip just the songs you want to burn pristine copies of. This copies the original, uncompressed audio into the cache, ready for burning.
4. Make a playlist of the compilation. If you are copying a single disc, and you have the "Create Playlists of Imported Songs" turned on, you can just use the playlist that was created, just make sure you first rename the playlist to the proper disc name before burning.
5. Select the playlist
6. Open the "Activity" window
7. Press the burn button (once!)

At this point, watch the Activity window closely. It should immediately say "assembling bin/cue file". If instead it says "Unpacking song" and/or "Writing CDG to Cache" then a step was missed and you may be getting compressed audio. If so, press the stop sign and check your steps. Otherwise, the bin/cue assembly will complete and then you'll burn a pristine disc using uncompressed audio.